This post is the first in a four-part series on energy independence and its significance (or insignificance)

“By around 2020, the United States is projected to become the [world’s] largest oil producer…” so states the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Energy Outlook 2012, issued Nov. 12 and quickly echoed by media around the world. In the process, the U.S. is expected to overtake Saudi Arabia in that lead role and, coupled with Canada and its burgeoning oil sands output, is likely to ensure North America becoming “a net oil exporter around 2030.”…